MORGANTOWN — Improvements to the Morgantown Ice Arena remain on schedule.
BOPARC Executive Director Melissa Wiles said it’s expected that completion of the main portions of the rink in White Park will be done in October and the construction of an additional party room will likely wrap up in December.
The project was awarded to Lombardi Development, of Follansbee, for $3.15 million and began in February.
In addition to the new party space, the improvements will consist of upgraded mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems, a new building exterior and roof and an improved dasher board system.
While the ice arena is the largest of the projects currently underway, it’s but one of many in the hopper.
Though it’s technically a city-led project, the construction of a new bridge in BOPARC’s White Park is in progress.
The bridge and connected trail work is being financed by Morgantown Utility Board as part of an agreement that allowed the placement of a water line through park property.
The two-span structure will be 174 feet end-to-end and allow access to the south side of the old Cobun Creek Reservoir, opening some 20 acres of White Park for public use.
It’s expected to be complete by the end of the year, with trail work to follow in the park’s southern section in 2026.
St. Albans-based SQP Construction Group was hired to build the bridge for $1.44 million.
As for other upgrades, BOPARC expects to be before Morgantown City Council early next month with a bond resolution tied to the financing of the reconfiguration of lower Marilla Park.
The project – awarded in June to High Point Construction Group for $8.5 million – will include the construction of six new tennis courts and six pickleball courts, a new basketball court, a 27,000 square foot artificial grass field, a pump track/skate park, renovations to the Marilla Center, two standalone bathroom facilities, new lighting, parking, pavilions, walkways and landscaping.
That work is expected to be completed in the first half of 2026.
At the Wiles Hill Community Center, a $155,000 roof replacement is wrapping up, a $225,712.06 contract to construct a new pavilion was recently awarded, and BOPARC is preparing to bid a project to address drainage and fall zone repairs at the playground across from the former school.
Likewise, a playground project for White Park is expected to go to bid in October and public input gathering is currently underway before moving forward with the replacement of the playground in 1st Ward’s Jack Roberts Park.
Lastly, BOPARC is currently seeking bidders to construct a facility in Krepps Park that will check multiple boxes – maintenance hub, all-season restroom facility and staff member residence.
Wiles said BOPARC had a staff member staying in a facility at Krepps Park overnight up until six years ago or so.
“We’ve maintained an open position at BOPARC for on-site staff within that park since having to demolish the prior residential structure there,” she said, explaining BOPARC has also kept a staff member on-site at Dorsey’s Knob Park overnight since the park was opened in the early 2000s.
